‘Water is Life, Water is Food, Leave No One Behind’ is the theme for this year’s World Food Day event which will be held tomorrow, October 13.

Hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture with the support of To Tatou Vai and Climate Change Cook Islands, the event at Terevete Park will take place from 8am until 2pm.

Secretary for Agriculture Temarama Anguna-Kamana is calling on the public to join them and support farmers, floriculturists and vendors at the event.

“Like previous World Food Day commemorations, we have numerous vendors who will be setting up stalls to sell fresh vegetables, root crops, floriculture, cooked food and crafts,” Anguna-Kamana said.

“This year, we have two new supporting partners joining us – To Tatou Vai and Climate Change Cook Islands because of their vested interest in this year’s theme – Water is Life, Water is Food, Leave no one behind.”

She said the two organisations will have booths to promote their message of the importance of water and its conservation. 

“These two new partners join Cook Islands Tourism, Te Marae Ora, Business Trade Investment Board (BTIB), Te Maraurau o te Pae Apii in supporting the Ministry of Agriculture in commemorating the annual World Food Day.

“We also have the Chefs Association again, joining us with preparing sample dishes for the patrons to taste but also for the students to enter in to simple cooking competitions.”

Speaking on this year’s theme, Anguna-Kamana said: “As the theme says, Water is Life, Water is Food. Water is one of the world’s most precious resource, it is the foundation for life and food.  It improves our livelihoods by reducing hunger and poverty. We need water to survive! Our plants, our animals, our communities. We cannot survive on food alone.”

“We must consume and manage our water resources wisely because the availability of this precious resource is under stress from economic development and climate change.”

She said there is added pressure on water resources due to extreme weather events such as drought and flooding and “we must respect our water resources and become champions in caring for this natural resource”. “Each one of us must make a collective commitment to conserve our water resources. No reira e te iti tangata, kia akamaroiroi tatou I te aka papu’anga I to tatou turanga vai no te tuatau ki mua.”